Jamie McFarlane

This story begins with a knock at the door, Retired Air Force flying ace Gordy Harmen is bored with sitting on his couch, watching baseball, and drinking beer. When Korsic from the Obsidian Union comes to his door and recruits him to fight in their war, Gordy is intrigued enough to sign up.

Gordy quicky finds out that there are problems that Korsic didn't mention to him. Gordy and the other Earth pilots soon learn that they will be facing overwhelming odds against an enemy with more advanced show more technology than they will have. They also have a population to defend that is having trouble believing that the enemy is coming their way and may have been infiltrated with the enemy too.

The story is filled with action and adventure as Gordy and his fellow citizens of Earth fight battles with the enemy and the government that hired them. The story reminds me of Old Man's War by John Scalzi in some ways: advanced medical technology and the need to recruit fighters with experience.

I liked the writing style. I liked Gordy's "take no prisoners" style and complete willingness to tell it like it is. I liked the comradery among the recruited pilots. I even liked the potential romance with his alien liaison.

This is the first in a new series and ends with a lot unresolved. I look forward to reading more. show less

With Fool Me Once, Jamie McFarlane has given us an old-school space opera that entertains but does not amaze. A woman who has just escaped from evil space pirates goes to Mars to rescue her sister from the proverbial fate worse than death.
McFarlane handled the opening scene especially well and gave it a surprising twist.
I do wish the title were more original.

McFarlane, Jamie. Junkyard Pirate. Junkyard Pirate No. 1. Fickle Dragon, 2019.
Junkyard Pirate ticks off some items on my fun-to-read list—a near-future world that doesn’t stray far from our own, two or three lively characters who talk to each other in a nonliterary way, and a science fiction premise that only makes me scratch my head a little. The protagonist, Al Jenkins, a well-over-the-hill Vietnam vet with a pot belly and a taste for booze, runs a low-profit junkyard. One night, his show more spine is crushed when a bunch of rocket casings fall on him, but his life is saved when his body is invaded by a symbiotic alien looking for a host to help her get off planet. It is a premise I have seen before, sometimes done better, often done worse. Three and a half stars rounded up. show less

Okay, is this my week for novellas masqueraded as novels? 3 under 100 pages, and I feel cheated on every one because I felt like the story was just getting good. This is the second in the Privateer Tales series to weigh in so small. Great story, great development but it still left me hanging. What is the crew going to do with a thief? (Hobbit/Lord of the Rings comes to mind...we need a burglar).